Guest Post: At The Kitchen Table (short story) by David Burrowes

Photo of the author David Burrowes

Photo by Joel Harvey

The two of them, Johnny and Sheldon, bumped together many times in their movements over the next number of months. They would try to upstage each other and get in the last remark before the talking was done. This behavior became the topic of conversation in the community. The ensuing remarks about them only made the situation more difficult.

When they did see each other, they were usually snippy and not too dissimilar to little kids being disagreeable. They seemed to prefer it that way. But maybe it was like a computer program that was faulty and the circuit just kept repeating itself until something or someone could steer it on a course correction.

One day, something different did happen. It was a day when Sheldon and Maxine were going for a walk on a street far away from where they lived. Sheldon had noticed a vaguely familiar vehicle parked in a driveway up ahead. Then, as he approached the driveway, he saw a garbage can sitting there. He lifted the lid and dropped a small bag of poop into it. That changed things.

“Hey! What are you doing there?” a man yelled out.

“Can’t you see? I’m just walking with my dog out here.” Recognizing it was Johnny shouting from the window, Sheldon added, “I…I didn’t know…I didn’t have any idea you lived on this street.” Sheldon was mortified.

“Why don’t you come in and join me for a beverage? It’s OK.” Johnny reassured him. “It’s cold out there. I promise I won’t bite.”

Sheldon was still too shocked to say no. He didn’t know what to do. So he went inside and Maxine followed him in the open doorway.

Johnny placed a mug in Sheldon’s hands and he sat down. In the background, the hockey game was on. Sheldon had one eye on the proceedings. Then a Canuck’s defenseman scored from the point, breaking the tie. The crowd was delirious and Sheldon was instantly involved. Johnny took delight in this, and like a Pavlov trained response, both Johnny and Sheldon high fived the goal.

“You know, you probably were more like me once.” Johnny surmised sitting beside him at the table. Sheldon grimaced and gazed down at his tilted mug and the liquid circulating about the rim. Sheldon was tired of being a tough nut. He looked around Johnny’s home: “I think maybe, I still am like you.” Now, it was time for Johnny to be surprised.

Otherwise that day, they shared a pleasant conversation at the kitchen table near the warm stove. Quite a different path this was becoming as they came to realize their common enjoyment of nature. And they were both friends after that despite their many differences and the fact that Maxine had barked at Johnny’s cat.

This has been a story of what people appear to be and what they actually are; what people try to be and what they actually become and how people everywhere aren’t so different from each other.

BIO

David Burrowes has lived on Mayne Island since 2004 enjoying the single lifestyle and hiding out from those big city ways. Dave was originally brought up on Vancouver’s North Shore. He moved to Victoria, where he ran a rooming house for 15 years taking many people off the street. Previous to that, he had his own small business representing a group of a dozen artists selling various greeting cards and gift enclosure cards around BC. Dave began writing his first novel in 2010, fulfilling a lifelong dream of embarking on a writing career.

Guest Post: The Conversation (short story) by David Burrowes

The first part of this three part short story was published last Friday. Here's the link to it. Read on for the second part. 

Photo of the author David Burrowes

Photo by Joel Harvey

Johnny placed a box of elongated bolts on top of his truck hood, took a bite out of his bologna sandwich and sipped on a soda. He flipped his Yankees cap backwards and slid his sunglasses back on. He was at the hardware store on his break. Just chilling. It was a sunny day, finally, after three straight days of downpour.  So good to be outside again talking to friendly people, Johnny thought.

Then Johnny spotted him. There he was. It was that old man again with his little dog in his arms. Johnny hadn’t forgotten. How could he? All that man had done was glare at Johnny that day. No explanation. He hadn’t said anything at all back then…and he was doing it again.  Staring at him. It was kind of spooky. What was with this guy? Johnny wondered.

That particular day was a while ago. Last spring some time.  At the gas station, was where they first met. Johnny remembered what started it off. The old man had been driving like an old lady. He had somewhere to be, Johnny did. And he was late he remembered. He had passed the incredibly slow car on the road. That’s what set things in motion.

Johnny brashly approached the man with his little dog. “Your name--Sheldon? And that--your dog?” “What’s it to you?” Sheldon snapped back.  His head bobbed a little in recognition, “Oh, so you remember me. I’ve heard your name is Johnny.” Sheldon placed his dog Maxine on the ground. Maxine loved to sniff other people, especially new smells, and Johnny was that. Maxine stopped suddenly at Johnny’s feet and started to growl. ”I know what it is.” Johnny grinned, “Your dog detects my cat’s odor on my clothes.”

Johnny awkwardly continued: “You’re not wearing your other coat?”

“This is my winter coat.” Sheldon bristled then looked up.  “Hey, you don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me.” Sheldon emphasized. “All you care about is yourself and your crummy little job. Everyone get out of the way. I’m important. I’ve got important things to do.”

 “People are so damned impatient!” Sheldon roared. Then he focused on the surprise and concern on Johnny’s face, thought better of it and his demeanor melted quickly into a broad smile. Sheldon was an ornery type for sure. However, once he got to know you, he warmed up.

Sheldon had his good days. He liked to drive to different places nearby and park his car. There, he and Maxine would go for walks. It was a pleasant break and he got to see what people were up to and what they planted in their gardens. Daffodils in the early springtime and geraniums and snapdragons were his favorites later in the year. Sheldon really enjoyed gardening and Maxine loved smelling the fragrances.

Johnny thought for a moment. He looked back at Sheldon who was still there: “So, what you are saying is that one day, probably sooner or later, I’m going to be something like you?” Sheldon began to stride away, then turned to one side and responded curtly, “That’s about it.”

BIO

David Burrowes has lived on Mayne Island since 2004 enjoying the single lifestyle and hiding out from those big city ways. Dave was originally brought up on Vancouver’s North Shore. He moved to Victoria, where he ran a rooming house for 15 years taking many people off the street. Previous to that, he had his own small business representing a group of a dozen artists selling various greeting cards and gift enclosure cards around BC. Dave began writing his first novel in 2010, fulfilling a lifelong dream of embarking on a writing career.

Guest Post: A Fractious Incident (short story) by David Burrowes

Photo of the author David Burrowes

Photo by Joel Harvey

The temperature was beginning to rise. Sheldon could sense it in the breeze around him. Everything and everyone had a degree of perkiness and one could feel anticipation. Trolling down the road with both hands on the wheel, Sheldon was oblivious of Maxine, his little dog, who was licking at his fingers nervously. The car was purring and a few drops landed on the windshield. Then it happened. A truck sped disrespectfully past him.

“Aaah! What are you doing? Idiot! What the hell is wrong with you?

I can’t believe that you are frigging doing that here and now to me. Don’t you care about anybody else? Are you drunk or on crack? Are you out of your freeking mind?!!”

Likely yes, Sheldon thought. He grabbed the top of his own head and shook it around but it stayed on. Saliva was dripping down his lips onto his neck. His retinas had an orangeness about them and steam was escaping from his nostrils. His dog was shaking and whining at a high decibel.

Sheldon’s eyes were shining lasers. If he turned them up on high level--the  other guy would be zapped into some unrecognizable goo.  Possibly the young man would be reduced to an ash with a putrid stench mimicing the flavour of Sheldon’s sister Emma’s latest home made potage. Ugh! It was a frightful thought that only a reluctant sigh would be necessary to blow the ensuing residue away.

Why Sheldon hadn’t totally flipped out at this point, one may never know.

It was unsettling and unnerving but most of all it meant a sudden alteration to his prescribed manner and usual method of activity.

Further down the road, Sheldon exited his vehicle and stood motionless for a long while.  He focused on the other fellow, trying to digest the audacity of his new found opponent. Each had their own mindset. One was dressed for success and was chasing it around. The other was a stumbler and wore a rumpled coat with one shirt collar out and the other not.

Sheldon wasn’t that far away but nothing was spoken between them. Nothing was even muttered amongst themselves. This young fellow was parked next to a gas pump. He was proceeding to gas up. He was aware of the old man with the little dog peering at him but he tried vehemently to ignore him, not understanding him at all. Sheldon, holding his little dog, just stared as he heard the gas pump twitter across the way. The young man kept shaking his head.

The gloves were off, and usual appearances and attitudes were temporarily in suspension. In the moment, none of this mattered or could be noticed and yet it was all there.

The two men had communication without any verbal exchange. Both were different in all ways you could imagine. One was young, the other old. One was quick thinking, flashily dressed, had his hair slicked back nattily; the other contemplative, slapped together, his hair matted and he grew a scruffy beard.  Sheldon had a dog, the other didn’t. The other was a cat man.

The day had evolved into an enigma or possibly a conundrum but it was definitely now a dilemma and Sheldon felt badly about it all. He seemed one more step removed from the reality he craved. Sheldon and Maxine reluctantly got back into their car and drove away. He parked his car where it often rested for days and he felt more at ease upon stepping out back into his world.

They were tall, way above his head and swaying toward him then away…the trees. Lost in his sensibilities, he purposed his steps down the lane toward the hillside where he lived, his little dog trailing behind him. Over his left shoulder, the trees tried to calm him, soothe his embittered soul as he tried desperately to return to the set pattern of his life…

…where Sheldon believed he was a true Mayne Islander.

BIO

David Burrowes has lived on Mayne Island since 2004 enjoying the single lifestyle and hiding out from those big city ways. Dave was originally brought up on Vancouver’s North Shore. He moved to Victoria, where he ran a rooming house for 15 years taking many people off the street. Previous to that, he had his own small business representing a group of a dozen artists selling various greeting cards and gift enclosure cards around BC. Dave began writing his first novel in 2010, fulfilling a lifelong dream of embarking on a writing career.